The third album from singer Rain, entitled ¡°It's Raining,¡± has recorded sales of over one million copies in seven Asian countries, including Korea.

According to a report on Rain¡¯s success in Asia submitted by the singer¡¯s agency, JYP Entertainment, to the Korea Culture & Content Agency, some 920,000 copies of Rain¡¯s third album have been sold this year in Japan (100,000 copies), China (500,000 copies), Hong Kong (50,000 copies), Taiwan (70,000 copies), Thailand (150,000 copies) and Indonesia (50,000 copies). The total number of copies exceeds one million--or 1.074 million to be exact--if the 154,000 copies of the album sold in Korea since its release in October are also taken into account.

Moreover, Rain¡¯s Asian tour entitled ¡°Rainy Day¡± drew 130,000 viewers from July to December of this year: 12,000 people in Tokyo; 8,000 people in Osaka; 20,000 people in Budokan; 20,000 people in Hong Kong and 40,000 people in Beijing. Thirty thousand tickets to Rain¡¯s concert slated for Dec. 29-30 in Taipei, Taiwan have been sold out as well. If the 12,000 people who watched Rain¡¯s concert in Seoul and the 10,000 people who attended his concert in Busan this year are also taken into account, a total of 152,000 people in Asia have seen the singer¡¯s concerts this year.

Next year, Rain will prove his status as a performing artist when he holds concerts in New York, USA, on Feb. 2-3 and in Bangkok, Thailand, on Feb. 26.

In the report, JYP Entertainment wrote that the current global showbiz standards require that stars possess the ability to be ¡°multi-entertainers,¡± as was the case with the Taiwanese group F4, Hong Kong star Andy Lau, and Hollywood stars Will Smith and Jennifer Lopez. "'One-source-multi-use' stars are in high demand in the Asian market, which is used to multi-entertainers,¡± said the report.

The report also calls for the implementation of an overseas partnership bank or database to eliminate hurdles in selecting overseas partners due to the lack of information on entertainers¡¯ activities abroad. The selection of the right partner is crucial for creating an appropriate image of a star in a certain country and, therefore, producing profits and unearthing new opportunities.

JYP entertainment¡¯s report also describes Rain¡¯s future goals and prospects. According to the report, the singer will release his first single album in Japan in January and launch its promotion. In September, he will release his fourth full-length album concurrently in Korea and other Asian countries. To achieve his ultimate goal of establishing a presence in the global showbiz market, the singer will hold a large-scale concert tour of the entire Asian region.

"Rain¡¯s album is a big hit in the Chinese-speaking region. Estimates say that more than 500,000 copies have been sold in China, but no one knows the exact figure,¡± said Chung Wook, chief of JYP Entertainment¡¯s Overseas Business Division, who was visiting Hong Kong to attend a ceremony appointing Rain as Pepsi Cola¡¯s model. He added that the TV series ¡°Let¡¯s Go, Sang-doo¡± and ¡°Full House,¡± both starring Rain, have recorded the highest viewer ratings in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan.

The agency expects Rain to produce even more impressive results next year.